I’m very interested in laws designed to reinforce the fact that “driving is a privilege not a right”. It should be harder to get and keep a drivers license. Suspension and revocation ought to be mandated for scofflaws and substance abusers, jail time for chronic offenders and driving without a license.

Unfortunately, this idiotic propensity of putting traffic controls everywhere, like a blizzard of sign pollution, turns everyone into scofflaws. Police routinely issue warnings instead of tickets, since not even they can obey so many restrictions.

Motoring has long since become expensively inconvenient, too slow, and unpleasantly tedious. As people smartly boycott motoring, those remaining abuse their privilege all the more. It’s been proven that motoring inevitably leads to sociopathic behavior. When you insulate yourself from the communities you pass through, you cease to care about them and those who live there.

If the bike community wants to see some sort of safe passing bill (or any other bike-related bill) passed in the next session, we would have to try to agree on what we wanted and find a sponsor, who would have to introduce it by about mid-February 2010, so there isn’t a lot of time. The PBC/GARI coalition has formed a legislative committee to work on this. Please let me know, (bschiller@ric.edu) if you would like to be involved with this.

Sending, reading or writing a text message, such as an e-mail or instant message, with any kind of data-transmission device while operating a moving motor vehicle would be punishable at the Traffic Tribunal by a fine of $85 on first offense, $100 on second offense and $125 for a third or subsequent offense.

… and what happens after the third offense? Does the person actually loose their license? If it’s left up to the traffic courts, probably not.

People we’ve missed so far at Procycle 2009 Art, the region’s first all media celebration of bicycling culture:

City of Providence, NBW, Pawtucket City Government, Providence Bicycling Coalition, RIDOT, State of RI. You have to wonder if they are really serious about supporting cycling if they don’t come to a free show with free parking and bike friendly accommodations. Read the Phoenix review linked from our blog:
http://web.mac.com/labann/Procycle_2009/HOME.html

Don’t forget another local case we reported almost two years ago, where another driver killed a teen on a bicycle. This man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.

It will be interesting to see whether the RI AG files charges of any sort. If the past is any indication of the future, he won’t and another motorist will get away with a crime.